^-THE^» 


Png  Qreek  Gold  Mining 


^COMPANY 


Gaston  Co.,  North  Carolina. 


HENRY  W.  CLARK,  PRESIDENT. 


GEORGE  A.  PARKER,  SECRETARY. 


Capital,  $500,000.  50,000  Shares. 


2 


-THE- 


ong  Qreek  Gold  Mining 


COMPANY^ 


Gaston  Co,,  North  Carolina. 


HENRY  W.  CLARK,  PRESIDENT, 

GEORGE  A.  PARKER,  SECRETARY. 


Capital,  $500,000.  50,000  Shares. 


-3 
Q 


Cordncr  Brothers    &    Co.,  Printers,  32  Hatvley   Street,   Boston. 


To  HENRY  W.  CLARK,  Esq, 


Dear    Sir  : 

At  your  request  I  send  you  the  following  report  as  the  result 
of  my  examination  of  your  "Long  Creek"  Gold  Mining  property 
on    the    fourteenth    day    of  June,    1SS0: — 

The  Mine  is  situated  at  Long  Creek,  in  the  County  of  Gaston, 
in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  and  about  twenty-five  miles  from 
the  City  of  Charlotte,  which  contains  S,ooo  inhabitants,  and  about 
four  miles  from  the  Wootens  Station  on  the  Atlanta  and  Charlotte 
Railroad. 

The  property  consists  of  300  acres  of  land,  a  portion  of  which 
is  capable  of  being  brought  under  cultivation.  It  is  well  timbered, 
an  item  of  no  small  value  in  mining  operations  where  so  much 
lumber  is  needed  for  timbering  shafts,  stoping  purposes,  adit  levels, 
and  tunnelling  of  various  kinds,  as  well  as  for  building  whim  houses, 
miners'  houses,  and  for  supplying  fuel  to  run  engines,  etc.  ;  so  that  the 
fuel,  as  well  as  the  lumber,  for  all  purposes,  will  cost  only  the 
expense  of  preparing  it  for  use.  This  item  of  free  fuel  alone  will 
save    about   $8    per    diem,    or   $2,496    per    annum. 

Four  shafts  have  been  sunk  on  the  main  vein  of  this  property. 
The  first  one,  about  8  feet  from  the  Mill,  is  the  Pump  shaft,  and 
down  to  the  depth  of  6$  feet.  But  I  was  informed  by  the  Super- 
intendent that  he  was  about  to  sink  it  S5  feet  deeper,  thus  making 
it  150  feet  deep.  From  all  appearances  no  doubt  at  that  depth  rich 
Ore    will   be    found. 


The  second  shaft  is  located  about  350  feet  from  the  one  now 
mentioned,  and  has  been  put  down  to  the  depth  of  55  feet  on  the 
vein. 

The  third  shaft,  which  is  called  the  "Pifer"  shaft,  is  about  850 
feet  from  the  latter,  and  has  been  sunk  to  the  depth  of  90  feet  on 
the    vein. 

The  fourth  is  called  the  "Ashbury"  shaft,  and  has  been  sunk 
to  the  depth  of  140  feet.  From  the  levels  and  stopings  of  this  shaft 
most    of  the    milling    Ore    at   present    is   taken. 

At  the  time  of  my  examination  there  were  nearly  20  feet  of 
water  in  this  shaft,  so  that  I  could  not  examine  the  bottom  part  of 
it.  I  was  informed  by  the  Superintendent  that  he  intended  to  have 
the  water  and  the  debris  taken  out,  and  the  shaft  sunk  25  feet  deeper, 
making  the  full  depth  165  feet,  thus  securing  nearly  50  feet  of  solid 
backs  to  take  down ;  or,  in  other  words,  about  600  tons  of  good 
milling  Ore.  These  shafts,  on  the  whole,  are  in  good  condition, 
well  timbered,  and  well  proportioned,  and  convenient  for  all  practical 
purposes.  The  Mine,  although  it  has  not  been  opened  up  by  its 
former  owners  on  the  most  approved  methods,  when  compared  with 
some  I  have  seen  in  this  State,  may  be  said  to  have  been  well 
commenced.  Therefore,  comparatively  little  money  will  be  needed  to 
rectify    old    mistakes,    and   put    the    property    in    a   first   rate   condition. 

The  general  strike,  or  trend,  of  the  vein  is  nearly  north  and 
south,  and  its  dip  about  So  degrees  from  the  horizon ;  although 
in  going  down  it  varies  from  this  at  various  points  ;  the  shafts  are 
nearly  perpendicular.  I  went  down  the  "Pifer"  and  "Ashbury" 
shafts,  and  along  the  drifts  and  examined  carefully  the  work  that  had 
been  done,  both  by  the  present  and  the  former  owners  of  the  Mine. 
I  was  struck  with  the  great  quantities  of  Ore  that  must  have  been 
taken  out  of  this  Mine,  and  yet  the  vein  seemed  only  beginning  to 
be  developed  and  show  its  richness  and  strength  ;  what  are  50  or 
100    feet    in    the    developement   of    a   Mine?      Comparatively    nothing! 


The  best  Mines  seldom  attain  their  greatest  richness  until  they  reach 
the  depth  of  300  feet.  The  Rudisill,  near  Charlotte,  at  150  feet 
yielded  only  $100  to  the  ton ;  now,  at  the  depth  of  200,  it  assays 
$215  to  the  ton.  The  Mint  returns  at  Charlotte  show  the  large  ariiount 
of  Gold  which  has  been  taken  out  of  this  Mine,  and  the  memories 
of  men  still  living,  who  helped  to  take  it  out,  testify  to  the  same  thing. 

The  general  average  width  of  the  Long  Creek  vein  is  about 
5  feet  on  the  surface,  traced  for  nearly  2,000  feet;  and,  in  going 
down,  it  does  not  seem  on  the  average  to  vary  much  from  this  width 
to    the   bottom    of  the    deepest    shaft. 

The  gangue  of  the  vein  is  a  mixture  of  Slate  and  Quartz,  with 
streaks  of  what  the  miners  call  brown  Ore,  which  is  the  richest  part 
of  the  vein.  This  color  is  produced  by  the  decomposition  of  the 
Sulphides   which   the    gangue    carries. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  "Pifer"  shaft  I  noticed  the  pure  Sulphides 
were  commencing  to  come  in  at  the  bottom  of  the  hanging  wall 
and  seemed  to  promise,  in  going  down  on  the  vein,  to  fill  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  it,  at  no  great  depth.  I  took  a  piece  of  these 
Sulphides  and  had  it  assayed  at  the  Mint  in  Charlotte,  by  Prof. 
Hanna,  which  went  about  $22  to  the  ton  of  2,000  pounds.  From 
experience  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  these  Sulphides  grow  rich 
rapidly    in    depth. 

The  average  width  of  the  whole  5  f"ee^  OI*  the  vein,  if  all  the 
Gold  could  be  saved,  as  it  might  be,  would  not  be  less  than  $12 
to  the  ton,  but  certainly  not  less  than  $10.  To  mine  and  mill  this 
Ore  need  not  cost  more  than  $3  to  the  ton  at  Long  Creek,  thus 
leaving  a  clear  profit  of  $7  per  ton.  A  good  20  stamp  mill  will 
crush  20  tons  in  twenty-four  hours,  and,  of  course  amalgamate  it  in 
the  same  time,  thus  leaving  a  profit,  after  paying  all  expenses,  of 
$140  per  diem,  or  $43,680  per  annum,  or  over  21  per  cent,  per 
annum  on  a  Capital  of  $200,000.  This  is  irrespective  of  the  pros- 
pective  value    of  the    coming    in    of  the    rich    Sulphides   of  Iron. 


There  seems  no  evidence  to  lead  to  the  belief  that  this  Long 
Creek  Mine  is  a  pocket,  or  a  superficial  deposit  that  may  soon 
he  exhausted.  The  walls,  one  of  them  at  least,  arc  well  defined  ; 
the  hanging  wall  is  of  a  metamorphosed  granite,  and  very  smooth 
and  permanent.  The  foot  wall  is  composed  of  Nacreous  Shale,  hut 
does  not  appear  to  he  so  well  defined  as  the  other ;  hut  it  is  suffi- 
ciently defined  in  connection  with  the  other,  to  authorize  us  in  saying 
that    it    is    unquestionably    a    true    "contact"    vein. 

If  there  be  any  significance  in  structure,  or  in  lithological  char- 
acteristics, the  system  of  rocks  in  which  this  Mine,  as  well  as  the 
Rudisilli  belong  to  the  Archcean  age  in  which  nearly  all  of  our 
greatest  and  richest  metalliferous  deposits  are  found  ;  probably  to 
the  Upper  Laurentian,  or  Huronian  Systems.  There  need  be  but 
little    apprehension    of  the    Mine    soon    giving    out. 

An  outlay  of  about  $10,000  would  put  this  property  in  a  very 
fine  condition.  I  would  advise  you  to  put  ten  stamps  more  into  the 
mill,  for  it  costs  very  little  more  to  run  a  20  stamp  mill  than  to  run 
a  10  stamp  mill,  whilst  the  profits  are  double.  You  have  water  enough 
in   your  Mine    and    a   never-failing   stream    to    supply   a   5°   stamp   mill. 

I  will  mention  here  what  I  should  have  mentioned  before :  that 
I  think  a  cross-cut  to  the  East  from  the  bottom  of  the  '"Pifer" 
shaft  of  about  50  feet  would  probably  cut  one  or  more  veins  as 
good  as  the  one  you  are  now  working  upon.  I  know  from  various 
indications  that  I  noticed,  that  there  is  the  greatest  probability  of 
this    being    found    to    be    the    case. 

The  Mill  House  is  40x60  feet,  and  in  a  good  state  of  repair, 
and  capable  of  containing  twenty  stamps  without  any  further  addi- 
tions. Its  position,  in  relation  to  the  Mine,  is  admirable  ;  indeed 
it  could  not  have  been  better ;  with  a  little  outlay  in  tramways  all 
the  Ore  from  any  one  of  the  shafts  could  be  brought  to  the  mill 
at  a  minimum  of  cost.  The  position  of  the  mill  also,  is  such,  in 
reference    to    the    stream    on    which    it  is  situated,  that  the  tailings  can 


all  be  re-handled,  if  necessary,  with  great  facility,  and  all  the  waste 
of  the  mill  disposed  of  without  the  slightest  trouble  or  expense. 
Such  advantages  as  these  can  only  be  fully  appreciated  by  [tiie 
practical    miner. 

Your  10  stamp  mill  I  consider  a  good  one,  but  by  no  means 
of  the    best   pattern,    nor    the    best   adapted    to    saving    Gold. 

The  So  horse-power  Engine  is  in  good  condition,  and  capable 
of    doing    more    than    double    the    amount    of    work    it    now    performs. 

The  Cornish  Pump,  capable  of  raising  a  column  of  water  S 
inches  in  diameter,  is  also  in  very  good  condition,  and  has  power 
enough  to  do  all  the  work  of  keeping  the  Mine  free  from  water  for 
a   long   time    to    come. 

There  are,  also,  on  the  premises,  3  frame  buildings,  2  stables, 
and  10  log  cabins  for  the  use  of  the  miners.  One  of  the  frame 
houses    is    used    as    an    Office. 

I  think  I  have  now  given  all  the  salient  points  of  the  property, 
and  I  have  aimed  to  do  no  more.  In  conclusion  I  would  say  that 
I  am  aware  of  no  better  or  safer  investment,  or  any  that  promises 
a  richer  return  than  this  property,  at  the  price  before  mentioned. 
The  Long  Creek  Mine  has  had  the  reputation,  and  I  believe  that 
it  deserves  that  reputation,  of  being  one  of  the  best  Gold  Mines 
in  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  With  judgment  and  skill  in  work- 
ing, and  economy  in  management,  I  cannot  see  how  this  Mine  can 
ever   be    a    financial    failure. 

Yours,    very    respectfully, 

W.    L.    THOMPSON, 

Mining   Engineer   and   Assayer. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://archive.org/details/longcreekgoldminOOIong 


